Here are nine tidbits from the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The South Course at Torrey Pines is the annual host. The 156 pros in the field will play a round on the South Course and North Course to determine who plays the weekend.

Armada

Jon Rahm set the course record at the “new” North Course with 62 as he ran roughshod in the benign conditions. He cruised out in 29 before finding his only bogey on the inward front nine. Two eagles never hurt and neither does playing the Par-5 holes in 5-under. He mentioned his consistent driving after the round; I’ll mention he hit 15 of 18 GIR.

Fantasy Island

These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game. If you’re wondering why you’re not doing well, here’s why:

Rank

Player

Place

% Ownership

1

Tony Finau

T41

57.64

2

Jason Day

T15

54.49

3

Tiger Woods

T53

54.02

4

Marc Leishman

T27

40.41

5

Xander Schauffele

T41

37.16

6

Justin Rose

T2

33.46

7

Rickie Fowler

T118

33.29

8

Rory McIlroy

T74

31.65

9

Jon Rahm

1st

29.86

10

Brandt Snedeker

T27

28.87

The weather and conditions will continue to be perfect throughout the rest of the weekend. It will be interesting to see the set up when we reach the weekend. The North Course was back to its easy ways as it played more than 2.5 shots under-par. Even the brutal South Course finished the day in red numbers.

No. 1 is No. 2

I’m a dad with two kids so I think it’s funny. Sue me. Justin Rose said after the round that he’s not a huge fan of having to post 25-under and was looking forward to this week. I guess seven birdies and an eagle on the North course (-9; 63) was just the warm-up he needed before three straight on the South Course.

Doug In

Doug Ghim is playing just his 10th event on TOUR and Torrey Pines usually doesn’t have any sympathy for newbies not ranked in the OWGR top 25. Round 1 saw him circle NOYNE birdies and an eagle to offset two bogeys to share second with Rosey. Not bad for a guy who has two starts this season and none since Shriners.

Tiger Woods and Friends

A birdie at the last on the South Course saw the large cat post 70 in his first round of the new season. He was beaten by the other two players in his three-ball by a shot as Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele both posted 69. The massive crowds didn’t seem to bother either of them in Round 1. This is especially great news for Schauffele lovers as he’s never played the weekend in three previous starts.

South Course Leaderboard

Playing 2.23 strokes easier than the North, a great start here is worth a few more.

Place

Player

Score

T6

Brandon Hagy

66

T6

Chris Stroud

66

T6

Charles Howell III

66

T15

Fabian Gomez

67

T15

Ryan Palmer

67

T27

Michael Thompson

68

T27

John Huh

68

T27

Jonas Blixt

68

T27

Ben Silverman

68

T27

Joel Dahmen

68

Match or beat this number on the North tomorrow and anyone from this group will be in the conversation on the weekend.

Pan Pizzazz

At the conclusion of play in 2017 Pan was three shots behind champion Rahm tied for second with Howell. At the conclusion of play in Round 1 Pan is two shots behind Rahm and tied for second. He’s played nine rounds at this event and has posted exactly one higher than 71.

Spying on Spieth

Oh, hello! Didn’t expect to see you up here alone in fifth after 65 on the North Course! He posted 63 on the “old” North in 2014 and that was his only round under 71 in eight rounds (MC, T19 and MC) prior. Wanna guess which club in the bag was the difference today? Yep, led the field in putts per GIR and that was with missing a couple shorties. Noticed.

There were 9 bogey-free rounds. Only Howell’s came on the South Course. … C.T. Pan circled the most birdies with 10. … Jimmy Walker was the only player in the field not to circle a birdie. … Peter Malnati WD before his tee time on Thursday with a back injury. … Matthew Fitzpatrick leads after the first round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. … Rafael Campos won on the Web.com Tour at the Great Abaco Club as he navigated gale-force conditions to collect his first professional win.